From sweeping along corridors of power to ... just sweeping

A term serving your country as an MP should by rights not go unrewarded. But exiting politics does not always open the door to lucrative book contracts and lecture tours, as a former German member of parliament revealed this week.

Lilo Friedrich, 57, has told how her fortunes nosedived after she left the Bundestag, and the only job she could get was cleaning for less than £8 an hour. Mrs Friedrich had a seat in parliament for the leftwing SPD party under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

Now, while he is touring with his bestseller memoirs and on the board of Russian gas giant Gazprom, she goes to work with a mop and duster.

"Rejection letter came after rejection letter," she told Der Spiegel magazine. "It was a ghastly time for me after the mandate came to an end ... I used to think that there's work out there for everyone who wants a job."

But the mother of six, nicknamed Red Lilo for her brightly dyed hair, soon realised that her political credentials did little for her chances in Germany's difficult job market. After applying in vain for more than 100 jobs, she eventually decided to work as a cleaner in her hometown near Düsseldorf.

According to Maria Kreiner, a sociologist at Oldenburg University, Mrs Friedrich's story is just the tip of the iceberg. In her book Office for a Limited Period - a Study of Former Members of the Bundestag Kreiner finds that many former politicians are overqualified for most jobs, meaning that they either find a management position or face unemployment.

She quoted one former member of parliament who told of the foundering careers of many ex-politicians: "One always hears of those who become top earners but you don't hear anything about the army of people who fall flat on their face."